Pete Clark auctioned a tune at a charity ceilidh in aid of the Kisoro School for the Blind in May 2001, and I was fortunate enough to be the highest bidder. The tune he wrote was a lively reel, which I named for our cat Maple. The back of a fiddle is made of maple wood, and the bow dances across it during the tune, so there is a pleasing musical tie-in.

This is my second attempt at a dance to go with the tune - the first dance was unexceptional and had some awkward sections, so I thought I'd try again.

1st and 3rd couples lead down the middle and up to face first corners. 2s and 4s step up on bars 3 and 4.

9-12

1st and 3rd couples couple dance corners pass and turn with first corners. At the end, dancing couples approach then pull back right shoulders to face fourth corners (partner's second corners).

13-16

1st and 3rd couple dance corners pass and turn with fourth corners. At the end, dancing couples approach then pull back right shoulders to face out their own side.

17-24

2nd, 4th and 5th couples dance the first eight bars of petronella while dancing couples dance out their own side and to the right, across the set between the setting couples, out partner's side and to the right, finishing 1st couple in 2nd place and 3rd couple in 4th place, all on opposite sides of the dance, and set. (I.e. all 5 couples are now on opposite sides of the dance, and all set on bars 23-24).

25-26

2nd couple turn half way giving right hand while 1st couple dance right hands across half way with 4th couple and 3rd couple dance right hands across half way with 5th couple.

The basic concept of the dance was proposed by Caroline, and I fleshed out the details, so this is a combined effort.

Peter Wood wrote the tune "The Inside Oot Fish Eater" for Lindsay Weir.It's a cracking tune which has really caught on with Scottish dance musicians. I thought it was about time it had a dance to go with it.Lindsay plays for Dunedin Dancers' Wednesday social night once a month, and this was first danced at Dunedin on the 13th of April, 2005 with Lindsay playing.

1C set, cast to 2nd place (2C step up on bars 3-4), dance down between 3C, and cast up to 2nd place.

9-16

1C cross RH, cast to the right, and dance 3/4 the way around the set to finish 1M between 2C facing down and 1W between 3C facing up while 2C and 3C dance rights and lefts. All finish facing up and down in lines of three across.

17-28

All dance 3-couple rights and lefts across the set.

29-32

All set, 2C and 3C turning to face partner on the 2nd bar. 1C petronella turn to 2nd place on own sides while 2C and 3C cross RH with partner.

33-40

All dance diagonal rights and lefts to finish in the order 3C, 1C, 2C.

Update: Suitable recorded music is available on the CD Performance Dancing with the Red Thistle Dancers, "Cathy's Jig" (track 10).

Although unorthodox, it has been noted that this progression technically will work as an 8x40 dance in traditional 4-couple longwise set, with the 1st couple stepping down to 4th place after the 2nd repetition. Since 8x40 jig recordings are a lot easier to come by than 3x40, feel free to dance it this way. Music for "The Express" was recommended by at least one person who tried this.

This site is intended to be a blog for testing and receiving feedback on Scottish country dances. If you have tried one of the dances posted here, please share your thoughts by clicking on the "Leave a comment" link at the bottom of the dance in question.